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T&T manager: Chance for youngsters to shine

“They would have dreamt walking out there to represent their country, sacrificed long hours in the play parks and kept away from the bad habits. Now comes the reward.” Those were the words of national cricket team manager Omar Khan, responding to the fact that batsmen Evin Lewis and Akeal Hosein are now on the national senior cricket team for the regional First Class last round clash against the Leewards in starting in St Kitts tomorrow. Yesterday, Hosein was rushed off to St Kitts to replace Adrian Barath who was called up to the West Indies cricket team for the final two one day internationals against Australia. Khan confirmed Hosein was with the team and looking forward to playing against the Leewards. He said: “Akeal came in this morning and was with us at the team’s training session at Warner Park, the venue for the match. He has settled in nicely and he is really looking forward to playing his first match for the senior team. “Evin is also here and he has been knocking on the doors for a while and is also very keen to make an impression. We have been weakened by the absence of many of our players but we are looking at the positive aspect of it all and that is, we are getting the chance to groom other players and strength our bench.”

T&T finds themselves in a must-win situation in order to guarantee themselves a place in the semifinals of the tournament. They will also hope that the Windward Islands prevent Barbados from getting an outright win,as the Bajans would finish second and T&T would then have to take the road for the semis. Khan said although the Leewards are at the bottom of the table, they would be out to prove a point. “The Leewards are at the bottom of the table but we cannot underestimate them. Who knows, this could be their best match of the season. We have to keep in mind that cricket is a game of uncertainty and we need to go out there and play intensified, intelligent cricket to get ahead and win the clash,” he said. T&T is currently fourth in the standings with 34 points, Jamaica lead with 60 points, followed by Guyana on 39 and Barbados 34.